Summer vacation is looming in the Netherlands and for many parents, that means six uninterrupted weeks with their children. That seems short in comparison to the three months of vacation in the United States and two full months in Belgium, but with small children at home, a weekend can even feel long.
So if you’re wondering what the heck you should do with your children this summer, here are some ideas that won’t break the bank and don’t require airfare.
Efteling (outside of Tilburg)
What Dutch list would be complete without including Efteling? This fairy-tale themed park is a must-see for anyone living or visiting the Netherlands. Each grown-up Dutch person can recite by memory their favorite rides and attractions, even two decades later.
The setting is tranquil and the park is not only picturesque but also squeaky clean. You’ll get both thrilling rides and calmer children’s rides. For some quieter moments, you can walk through the storybook forest or take a slow boat ride.
You can even stay on-site at the Efteling hotel in their fairy tale-themed rooms. Het Wapen van Raveleijn restaurant is a hit for children as they can go to “knight” school and dance around tables at this Burgundian restaurant and show.
Toverland (Sevenum)
This amusement park is an alternative to Efteling. While smaller in footprint, you still get a clean and picturesque park that kids will love. It has something for everyone, both kids and adults. It has a huge indoor section (great to escape the heat or rain), playgrounds sprinkled throughout and a daily fighting pirate show.
Julianatoren (Apeldoorn)
If you have wee-little kids, this bite-sized amusement park is specifically geared towards small children. From helicopters to a pint-sized ferris wheel and pirate boat, kids can ride everything in this park. As a parent, though, you might have to squeeze yourself in, especially on the mini helicopters!
Oertijdmuseum (Boxtel)
This small dinosaur museum packs a lot in … from touching fossils and examining insects in amber to looking at the dinosaur skeletons and seeing techs cleaning dinosaur fossils.
Albeit many of the skeletons are replicas, there is an impressive skeleton of a Diplodocus (Ardetosaurus), which was excavated in Wyoming in 1993. Roughly 70 percent of its original bones survived and are part of the exhibit.
It has a large outdoor component where kids can do a treasure hunt, dig up dinosaur skeletons in sandboxes and see workers in an outdoor workshop assembling more fossils.
NEMO Science Museum (Amsterdam)
The iconic Amsterdam building packs a lot of punch in this multi-level museum with hands-on, interactive science and technology exhibits. The museum is really geared towards six-year-olds and older.
The science center has an hourly show about kinetic energy and kids will find plenty to do from making dams with real water (teaching about the Dutch water system) and learning about the human body to playing with huge cranes and working in an interactive workshop with electronic circuits. We spent four hours there and I feel like we only scratched the surface.
Plus, the museum’s renewed rooftop terrace with panoramic views of Amsterdam reopened in May 2025, ready to welcome throngs of parents and their children this summer.
De Hoge Veluwe National Park (Gelderland)
In a nation of bikes, what do you do if you can’t bring your bikes on your car? That’s my family’s problem and that’s why this national park is so great. Not only can you walk to explore the forest, heathland and sand dune landscape, but you can also use the park’s 1,800 free white bicycles. Yes, that’s right, I said free and this includes adult bikes, children’s bikes and bikes with child seats.
If you have time after riding, head to the Kröller-Müller Museum, which houses a terrific Vincent van Gogh collection and an outdoor sculpture garden.
De Biesbosch National Park (Noord-Brabant)
Do you want to get outdoors and paddle through quiet creeks and willow forests? At De Biesbosch National Park, you can rent canoes or electric boats and spend the day on the water looking for beavers, kingfishers and herons. Stop at one of the waterside restaurants for lunch.
If you have time, check out the Biesbosch Eco Museum to learn more about the natural and cultural history of the area, while enjoying the amazing architectural design of the museum. You can end your day by climbing the Biesbosch Toren (observation tower) for panoramic vistas of the park.
Spoorwegmuseum (Utrecht)
Do your kids love trains? Check out Utrecht’s train museum and dive into all things trains. Kids can run through old train cars, explore how trains work, play outdoors and drive a train simulator by pushing all the buttons they are never allowed to push in real life.
One tip? Go mid-week to skip the weekend crowds.
Petting zoos
If it’s one thing that the Netherlands is not short of, it’s good petting zoos, or kinderboerderij in Dutch. It’s a great way to get outdoors, pet some cute animals and entertain your children in a cost-effective (and sometimes free) way. Most also have a nice cafe on the grounds. Here are some of my favorites:
- Kinderboerderij Hagerhof (Venlo)
- Geertjes Hoeve (Utrecht)
- Castle Petting Zoo (Geldrop)
GeoFort (Herwijnen)
This old fortress-turned-interactive-museum teaches kids about maps, climate and geo-tech. There are underground tunnels, a 3D sandbox and escape rooms.
If you’ve kept with me until this point, we’ve already covered a lot of ideas. But since the Netherlands has so many kid-friendly places, here are a few extra ideas.
Gnome Trails (Kabouterpad) are scattered around the Netherlands, like this one in Strabrechtse Heide outside Eindhoven.
Blueberry picking (zelfplukken), like Blauwebessenland in America (yes, “America” is a town in the Netherlands).
Wild playgrounds where kids splash around and get dirty and make forts, like Speelnatuur van OERRR in Utrecht, The Wild West in Amsterdam and to some extent the sand area in De Bosspeeltuin in Máximapark (also in Utrecht).
Climbing Forests (Klimbossen), like the Klimbos Fun Forest in Venlo, but watch out for the height requirements.
Zoos, like ARTIS (Amsterdam), Eindhoven Zoo and ZooParc Overloon.
Other kid-friendly museums, like Nijntje Museum in Utrecht (best for 2–6 years) and the DAF Museum in Eindhoven.
Makers Spaces, like the dedicated space at Ontdek Fabriek in Eindhoven (especially great for kids 6+) and Ontdekstation in Tilburg or the pop-up workshops during vacation periods at the Amsterdam libraries (Amsterdam Maakplaats 021) and Eindhoven library, for example.
–––––––––––
See more about the Netherlands here in Dispatches’ archives.
Lane Henry is an accidental long-term expat. She is an American who came to the Netherlands for two years—or so she thought. She has now lived in the Netherlands and explored Europe for over a decade.
